


Star-gazing

by Clennel



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Multi, One-Shot, before the fever dream that was season three, before the lion switch, just the five of them star-gazing, not really a shippy thing, season 1 setting, team bonding fic, team fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 04:53:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11798808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clennel/pseuds/Clennel
Summary: Each of the paladins reflect back on their love for the stars and begin to feel a little less alone in a foreign galaxy.





	Star-gazing

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!  
> This would be technically my second Voltron fic, but I'm calling it my first because holy shit was this a whirlwind. Unfortunately, no real ships here but also, no hate!  
> Simply the five paladins being homesick and bonding over it.  
> I don't see enough fics of the team simply....being, so here you go!  
> Enjoy!

There are stories in the stars. That has always been one of the constant truths in Lance’s life. Sundays are cleaning days, his niece squeals when she’s tickled, the sun rises in the East, and the stars hold stories.

The constants in his life. . .gone.

Lance sinks against the navigation console, and stares up at a sunless sky he doesn’t recognize.

_ “Mijo?” Aleja Mcclain’s voice called out, the screen door sliding closed behind her. Lance tilted his head back from his spot on the grass to watch the upside version of his mom walk towards him. “It’s late.” _

_ Lance returned his gaze to the stars. “Can I stay out here a bit longer?” _

_ She chuckled and settled herself next to him. “It’s a nice night so, why not?” He beamed and she offered him a steaming mug. “Hot cocoa?” _

_ Lance shifted so he was sitting up and nodded, taking it with a grateful smile. The warmth of the drink seeped through his palms. His mom cast a look up. Sighed contentedly. _

_ “I’ve always loved the night sky. All the stories.” _

_ At this, Lance had paused. _

_ She slanted him a look and smiled, pointing at the stars. “Look. Those five stars? Cassiopeia sitting on her throne. To appease Poseidon’s monster, she and her husband sacrificed their daughter and chained her to a rock.” _

_ He was horrified, to say the least. _

_ His mom only gave a soft laugh. “Greeks,” she said like that explained everything. Her hand shifted as she pointed to another cluster of stars. “But look mijo, there’s Andromeda, alive and well after Perseus saved her from the monster.” _

_ His horror faded slowly to fascination as his mom gestured from star to star, mapping the sky in her stories. _

“Lance?”

He jerks, scrambling to his feet. Hunk stares at him from the doorway. Curiosity melts into confusion which turned to understanding. His eyes flick from the windows, from the endless sky, and back to Lance, who shoots him an awkward smile.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Like he wasn’t just lost in homesickness.

“I can’t sleep so I thought I would see if anyone else was up and the navigation room is sometimes where everyone goes so I figured I’d check here.”

Lance only has to sort of fake his laugh. “Yeah, of course. I’m not sure if this is the most comfortable place though.” He gestures at the console. His back does ache a bit from the awkward angle he was sitting but. . .he got a better view sitting on the ground than he did on the chair.

Hunk shrugs, his smile warm. “It’s fine.” He crosses the room and sits down. Lance follows his lead after a moment, the tension in his body lessening the tiniest bit. Hunk glances at him. “So what were you looking at?”

“Just the stars.”

Hunk follows his gaze. Pauses. Stars dot the sky, swirling and shining through bright galaxies and the dark night. It’s breathtaking. Hunk smiles. He nudges Lance.

“I wish my mom could see this,” he says, not taking his eyes off the sky, “She would sit here and paint for hours.”

Lance gives him a look filled with curiosity and slight teasing. “I thought she’s an engineer?”

“She is.”

_ Sefina Garett peered up at the sky her son loved with all his heart and raised a brush. Hunk crouched a couple feet away, up to his elbows in his motorcycle. The waves crashed on the beach far behind them. Above their light chatter, the ocean breeze whispered. _

_ “How was school?” _

_ “The usual,” Hunk said with a laugh that quickly faded as something in his bike gave a loud  _ clank.

_ His mom glanced over her shoulder. Dark, intelligent eyes assessing the damage. “Brakes?” _

_ Hunk shrugged and checked. Sure enough, there was a broken link deep within. “Yup, that was it.” As he set about fixing it, Hunk cast a look at his mom. “Man, this just keeps brake-ing.” _

_ There was a beat of silence, and then a long suffering sigh. “For Pete’s brake Hunk.” _

_ “Can’t put the brakes on these jokes.” _

_ His mom laughed, her brush moving as fast as her puns. And just like several nights before it, they spent the hours working and keeping each other company. _

Hunk leans back against the console. “She painted the most beautiful nights.”

Lance crosses his legs under him. “Did she paint the canvas hanging above your head? At the Garrison?”

Hunk laughs then, loud and contagious. “The one you convinced me to sneak in? Yeah.”

A knock on the wall behind them has them both nearly jumping out of their skins. They glance at each other before peering around the console. Pidge stands at the door, already walking in, lips curled in a held back laugh at how ridiculous Hunk and Lance look, only their heads visible from the edges of the console.

Hunk is the first to recover. “It’s late, what’re you doing up?”

“You guys talk loud.” She plops down between Hunk and Lance. “And I don’t sleep much.”

Lance laughs. “Join the club.”

Pidge leans forward, pushing up her glasses before resting her elbows on her knees. “Is this a stargazing slumber party?”

Hunk shrugs. “Pretty much.”

“Team bonding,” Lance says. He peers at the two of them before grinning. “The Garrison flight team, back together.”

Pidge groans, but her lips curl up. “I’m forced to join this team bonding, aren’t I?”

“Yup! You rejected all of our other attempts.”

At this, Hunk snorts. “ _ Our _ attempts? More like you dragging me along to whatever scheme you had planned.”

Lance splutters. He can’t really argue with that. So instead, he shoots back, “Don’t tell me you didn’t have fun!”

“I couldn’t tell over the multiple heart attacks you gave me.”

Their laughs echo through the large room before it fades to silence. Silence that allowed the three of them to simply gaze up and stare. Silence that reduced their conversations to nudging each other at the sight of a twinkling star, or wondering at a foreign planet, or simply pointing out that galazy right up there on the left.

Silence that was eventually only broken by Pidge tapping them and pointing at a far star, blurting out quick bursts of fact. How that one got its glow. How to really tell a yellow sun from a red sun.

_ “A yellow dwarf sun is a G-type, while a red dwarf is a K or M type.” Matthew Holt said, leaning away from the telescope to let his daughter peer into it. They were originally trying to find Mars and Saturn but had unsurprisingly gotten off topic. _

_ Katie looked through the telescope. Bundles of stars danced before her as she scribbled down notes. Keeping track of the telescope position and their conversation. “Our sun is a yellow dwarf right?” _

_ She didn’t have to see her father’s face to know that he was beaming. “Correct!” She heard him shift and after a moment, “You take after me with note-taking.” _

_ Katie laughed. “Completely unreadable except to us?” _

_ “Unfortunately so.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, gently guiding her away from the telescope to check it for himself. She stepped away, not at all bothered considering she’s done the same thing to him far more times than she can count. _

_ As he adjusted the telescope, she moved back to her journal. Little columns of notes decorated the sides of her paper, describing everything and nothing. An entire notebook filled with facts she’s learned from both books and from nights like these with her dad. _

_ Katie paused mid-note. “I’m going to miss you.” _

_ He pulled away from the telescope to pull her into a hug. “We’ll be back before you know it.” _

_ She swallowed hard. Tried to keep the tears at bay as she attempted to laugh. “You’re taking Matt with you, you can take your time.” _

_ Her dad held her tighter, calling her out on her lie. “We’ll miss you too Kit-kat.” _

_ “You better bring me back space dust.” _

_ He let her go and gestured to her notes. “Only if you can tell me what compounds make up the moon.” _

_ Katie gave a watery smile and nodded. _

“Was the red sun the one from Krypton?” Lance asks, ignoring how Pidge jumps a little.

She pushes up her glasses and wipe at her eyes, voice unsteady. “Uh yeah...yeah, I think it was actually.”

Hunk sees the tears gathering under her eyes and scoots a little closer. He doesn’t say anything, but Pidge still relaxes as if he had hugged her. She gives him a grateful look and takes a stuttering breath.

Lance scoots closer as well and wraps a hand over Pidge’s. “You okay?”

She nods. Leans her head on Hunk’s shoulder while gripping Lance’s like a lifeline. Secure as a hug. It’s been a long time since she’s felt steady. Since she was able to breathe without her family and see the one she’s accidentally made here.

Footsteps from the corridor has all of them freezing. Hunk and Pidge hold back their laughter as Lance gives a long, dramatic sigh.

“Whoever it is,” he yells, “We’re in here and you’re welcome to join us!”

“Uhh…” Keith’s voice echoes back, “Alright.”

By the time he joins them, Pidge feels a little steadier. Keith’s gaze sweeps over them all before he settles himself next to Lance. Next to the spot that still has a little bit of console to lean against.

Hunk chuckles. “If anyone else is going to join us, they missed out on the comfortable spots.”

Laughter rolls through the line of them, half agreeing, half noticing that they aren’t  _ really _ comfortable leaning up against the awkwardly curved metal. But still, it offers a nice view of the sky and allows them to stretch their legs so it’s good enough.

Pidge leans forward, catching Keith’s gaze. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

“Not really,” comes the reply, “I typically go to the training deck but-”

“But you heard our awesome conversation and investigated?” Lance says.

“Basically.” Keith’s lips quirk up. “So what are you guys doing here?”

Hunk gestures at the huge windows that take up most of what they see. “Enjoying the view.”

“Sounds nice.” It’s been awhile since Keith truly star-gazed and he’s been meaning to but...things kept getting in the way. So now he scoots forward, away from the group just to be that tiny bit closer to the stars that lazily swirl above them.

_ “Communication’s down!” Tess announced, flouncing back in her seat. _

_ To Keith’s side, Jason sighed. “Show time everyone. We’re on the clock and I want to get a headstart.” He moved to unbuckle himself. “Keith, please make our landing soft, I don’t feel like getting a concussio-” _

_ Keith’s arm shot out to pause Jason in his tracks. “Or...we continue with the plan.” _

_ The silence that descended over the cabin was oppressive. Jason’s stare burned holes into Keith’s head. “Are you crazy? Section 9 dictates that once communications go down we need to land and get it back online.” _

_ “For what?” Keith was already placing his hands back on the handles. “For them to tell us that we still need to get the parcel?” _

_ “To restore communica-” _

_ “That’ll just add precious minutes to our final time.” _

_ Keith didn’t have to hide his smile as Jason reluctantly buckled himself back in. He cast a glance back at Tess to make sure that she’s secure before taking off once more. Away from the digital planet they were supposed to land on. _

_ Every simulation was more or less the same. Double check every single move with the Garrison. But still get a good time. Keith shook his head, setting his course on the pick up mission. A parcel in which they already know all the details to. _

_ He ignored Jason’s warning and sped off. Towards success,  _ his way _ , not theirs. He would deal with his officer’s reprimands and grudging respect later. He’d focus on Shiro’s disapproving stare when the time came. _

_ For now, he  _ flew _. Letting the thrill of it run through his veins in a way he would never tire of. Towards the stars that he longed for so long to reach, enjoying how they turn to brightly colored streaks that he flew past them. _

“What time do you think it is?”

Keith blinks. For the briefest second, he wants nothing more than to get into the Red Lion and take off into the night. Another second, and the feeling passes. He scoots back to the console, watching as Lance considers the question.

The answer he rattles off goes over everyone’s head at first before they convert it.

“It’s freaky how quickly you caught onto Altean time,” Pidge teases.

Lance grins, puffing himself up. “What can I say? I’m pretty and smart.”

The groan that stretches across them only makes his grin grow. He gives a laugh and collapses back against the console, bravado faded back to a level seen only at his calmest moments.

Hunk peers over at the doorway. “Do you guys think we should go get Shiro?”

Pidge fiddles with her glasses, eyebrows knit. “No. He’s probably asleep.”

“Not really,” Keith says, “He sleeps about as much as us.”

The reason why hangs above their heads. A storm cloud no one knows how to address. So they don’t. Instead, Lance gestures dramatically. “Going by how this night is going, Shiro will be here any second now.”

Keith glances at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope. Watch, he’ll show up.”

“Shiro never comes here at night, he never even leaves his room.”

“I’m right. In fact,” Lance readjusts himself, crossing his legs under him and holding up three fingers. . “He’ll be here in three….”

Pidge stares at him. “It’s nearly statistically impossible for-”

“Two…”

Hunk shrugs. “Just let him have his moment. He’ll learn from it when-”

“One!”

“-Shiro doesn’t show up.”

A new voice joins the fray. “Guys...why aren’t you all asleep?”

It’s difficult to say who screams first. Though, it’s a good bet that it’s Lance. There’s silence for the span of a single heartbeat before the three of them suck in a breath and unleash the sounds of victory, disbelief, and incredulity, in that order.

“I KNEW IT!”

“WHAT? HOW?”

“OH MY GOD LANCE!”

The wall of sheer volume slams into Shiro and in the several seconds it takes for them to calm down, he stands there. Staring. When they finally run out of breath, he blinks. Once. Twice.

“Guys…”  _ What the fuck? _

Shiro doesn’t need to say it for everyone to hear it. Out of everyone, Keith is the first to crack. He gives a spluttering laugh that quickly morphs into a whole one that spreads across the line.

Through giggles, Lance notices that Shiro hasn’t moved. He waves him over and watches as Shiro takes a tentative step, as if wondering if they were going to start screaming again. “We were just wondering when you’d show up. Want to stargaze with us?”

Shiro nods. As he crosses the room and sits next to Hunk, he says, “Looks like I’m late to the party.”

Hunk shakes his head. “We’ve all been trickling in.”

Shiro nods again. He sits ramrod straight, posture sure and instinctual, as he gazes up at the stars. “Glad to know I’m not the only one who still loves them.”

Pidge chuckles, the sound nothing more than a simple exhale of breath. “I’ve loved them since I was a kid. I don’t think I’ll get over it.”

Keith catches her eye, smiling. “Me too. I used to want nothing more than to reach them.”

“And now?”

He shrugs, the grin resembling more of a smirk. “I can’t get enough.”

There’s a beat of silence before Hunk chimes in. “When I see them, I see swirled paint and calm ocean nights. It’s hard not to love them.”

Lance leans forward. “What about you Shiro?”

_ A little boy quietly shoved his window up, glancing back to check that he didn’t wake anyone up. No one stirred. With a book tucked under his arm, and a flashlight in the other, Shiro pushed himself up onto the windowsill. _

_ He climbed up onto the roof, movements sure from experience. Crept a little farther up so that the entire sky stretched above him. With stars that looked so close you could almost touch them and stars that looked so far away that his mind swam with possibilities of what could be out there. _

_ With eyes reflecting the night sky, Shiro opened his book on his lap and clicked on the flashlight. Constellations spread out across the pages, scientific reasonings, and explanations for the universe he knew he was going to see one day. _

_ Shiro peered up at the stars. Compared it to his book. Constellations and positions of them, the names of the stars, everything. He sat there for hours, too enthralled to even care that he wasn’t comfortable. _

_ And when he finally felt his eyes grow heavy, he reluctantly went back inside. Crawled underneath his blankets and fell asleep with the last thing he saw being the glow-in-the-dark stars and planets stuck to his ceiling. _

The Shiro in the here and now simply smiles. “I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember.”

The five of them share a smile at their shared past. Until, Lance’s fades. He looks down, swallowing hard.

“Does it...does it bother anyone else that it’s the wrong sky?”

Lance’s words settle over them, bringing back the storm clouds. Pidge is the first to react. She looks up at the sky with a large, sad gaze that says everything they’re all feeling. “I didn’t want to..to be the first to say it.” She sighs. “I can’t recognize any of it.”

One by one, Hunk, Keith, and Shiro murmur their agreements. A shared love for the stars, the universe brought them here. But what they’ve spent so long staring at, dreaming of, is gone. The stars they knew, the planets they were so used to orbiting their Earth, are so far away it seems like they’re gone for good.

Lance sniffs. “I used to be able to name every constellation in the sky. I could tell you their stories. But now…”

“Lance…” Keith starts, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Whatever he was about to say next is interrupted by Hunk’s gasp. “Hang on!” He jolts up so he can see everyone. “Why don’t we make our own?”

Pidge catches on before everyone else. A slow smile tugs at her lips. “This sky is completely foreign. Who says we can’t?”

“I’m with Hunk and Pidge,” Shiro says, “Let’s make our own constellations.”

And that’s how it starts. The five of them peering up at the stars that are so far from the ones they grew up but aren’t any less their own. Fingers trace out invisible patterns in the galaxies, the planets.

A young boy sitting and a woman pointing at the sky.

A woman painting.

A girl peering into a telescope.

A young pilot flying his ship.

A little boy on a rooftop with a book and flashlight.

In a sky none of them recognized, they mapped out the stars with their own constellations. Because in any sky, anywhere, there are are stories in the stars.


End file.
